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Cumulative GPA and GRE... Competitive?


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Hi everyone, long time lurker, I'm one of those weirdos... :)

 

I have a first degree ('06) in architecture with a mediocre GPA (3.2). I'm finishing my second degree in biology that I started in spring 2012 now, cumulative GPA of 3.91, science GPA of 3.89.

 

I just took the GRE and wound up with 159V, 149Q, 5W.

HCE, 60 hours of shadowing and counting, I've been volunteering in the same ED since 2012, but since I have to work and be in school, (quitting my architecture job to go back to school cost us half our income) my hours aren't high. 4 hours a week roughly means I have 400 hours - I took a year off in there too when work/school got tough and I was training to be a scribe for a few months. Didn't end up pursuing it because I couldn't make the long hours work with classes and my other job. I plan to continue volunteering through the application year, I'm very fond of it! I get to do a lot with patients and it's very interactive for a volunteer program.

 

LORs are strong. One from boss/science faculty, one from health careers adviser/boss/faculty and one from PA.

 

How badly will that 3.2 GPA, 149Q on the GRE and low hours hurt me? I hate to bother everyone by asking but I would love the feedback.

 

Thank you!

-13

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You appear to have lucked into doing the same thing that I did, then: I had an undergrad career which was relatively undistinguished, but also science-light, so when I decided to go back to PA school, all the science courses I got with 4.0's really pulled it up.  No matter what your cumulative undergraduate GPA, having your science GPA higher than cumulative GPA is a good thing.

 

Addendum: Ok, posted while you were.  The 3.49 cumulative is good enough to get interviews most places.  I wouldn't worry about the GRE too much.

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Great thank you, I wasn't sure if it would be worth retaking the GRE just for the Q score. My math and stats prerequisites are all As... Hopefully they don't care too much. My first degree was all architecture, so specialized courses, of which pretty much none apply to science or anything else really.

 

I think I'll be most troubled by the lack of HCE.

 

Thank you again for your advice :)

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Thanks! Sorry I didn't post this in stats, I didn't realize that the two degrees wouldn't be viewed differently and that my entire GPA would be combined - very helpful!

Honestly, that's the single biggest GPA issue I see, so you're far from alone.  People don't "get" the cumulative undergraduate GPA concept, especially those who have only attended one or two schools.

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